(EnergyAsia, February 25, Wednesday) — State energy firm Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) expects to land a contract for a massive oil project in Iraq. The company said it would work alone on the eight oil blocks in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region after failing to after efforts at forming a consortium with other Korean companies...

(EnergyAsia, February 25, Wednesday) — Singapore-listed Federal International (2000) Ltd last week announced that it had won a US$64.4 million contract with First Calgary Petroleums Ltd–Sonatrach Spa (FCP-Sonatrach) for a 428-km line pipe for the development of the Menzel Ledjmet East oil and gas field in Algeria. Federal, a service and procurement specialist provider for...

(EnergyAsia, February 25, Wednesday) — Three Japanese firms, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI), Mitsubishi Materials Corp (MMC) and Mitsubishi Corp (MC), and France’s Areva have signed an agreement to jointly establish a new company to provide nuclear fuel fabrication services. The yet-to-be-named company will provide nuclear fuel fabrication services, development, design, manufacturing and sales services....

(EnergyAsia, February 25, Wednesday) — Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, a world leading manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, said it recently paid $8.1 million for a minority stake in Asia Silicon Co Ltd. Earlier, Suntech has entered into an agreement to purchase high purity polysilicon from Asia Silicon for up to $1.5 billion...

(EnergyAsia, February 25, Wednesday) — China’s patient pursuit of a long-term oil supply deal with Russia has paid off as cash-strapped Moscow agreed last week to provide 300,000 b/d for 20 years in exchange for an urgent $25-billion loan. The deal, the largest energy transaction between the two countries, was hailed as a major breakthrough...

(EnergyAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — Thailand’s state energy firm Thai Oil said it has shelved plans to upgrade its oil refinery due to the impact of the global economic slowdown. The company faces difficulty raising capital for its proposed US$2 billion upgrade, and has no guarantee the investment will pay off in view of reduced...

(EnergyAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — World oil production will soon peak at 89 around million b/d, the CEO of French oil major Total said. According to Christophe de Margerie’s latest pronouncement, the world will not be able to produce more than 89 million b/d, down sharply from his earlier forecasts for a 93 million b/d...

(EnergAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — GE Energy said it has signed a contract worth nearly $1 billion to supply more than 30 Frame 7EA gas turbines for the Saudi Electricity Company’s (SEC) Riyadh Power Plant 10 (PP10). This project, the latest in a series of GE contracts for SEC power projects, will add 2,000 megawatts...

(EnergyAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — Malaysia’s Johor state government said it has set aside nearly 405 hectares of land in Kota Tinggi town for the construction of a multi-billion-ringgit downstream oil complex. The project will consist of oil storage and blending facilities to be developed by a consortium involving a local and a US company,...

(EnergyAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — Finland’s Wartsila and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) said they have signed a 10-year renewal of an existing co-operation agreement for the sale, manufacture and servicing of Wartsila’s low-speed marine diesel engines. Mitsubishi is the longest-standing member of the Wartsila family of low-speed engine licensees. The renewal was signed...

(EnergyAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — The build-up of oil stocks in offshore floating structures and vessels is putting a lid on world oil prices, said traders and analysts. They estimate that traders have built up more than 80 million barrels of crude oil in tankers in the US Gulf and elsewhere in anticipation of higher...

(EnergyAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — With the signing of five landmark infrastructure deals earlier this month, China has positioned itself to play a larger role in the economy of oil-rich Saudi Arabia. The deals, including a $1.8-billion mono-rail project, were signed during President Hu Jintao’s visit to the kingdom. The other agreements covered energy, mining,...

(EnergyAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — The race between demand destruction and supply reduction will largely set the direction for where oil markets are headed this year. For now, demand destruction is winning, pushing WTI crude prices down to around $40 per barrel. For more than nine months last year, WTI held above US$100, peaking at...

(EnergyAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — Swiss-based Vitol Group, one of the world’s largest physical oil trading conglomerates, earlier this month announced that it has divested its 10% stake in Vopak Horizon Fujairah Ltd (VHFL) which owns a 1.5-million-cubic metre oil storage facility in Fujairah, UAE. Vitol said it realised an “attractive return” from the sale...

(EnergyAsia, February 24, Tuesday) — President Dmitry Medvedev has launched Russia’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant built by Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Limited (Sakhalin Energy). The LNG plant is the heart of the Sakhalin II Project, one of the largest integrated oil and gas projects in the world. The innovative and challenging Sakhalin II...

loans to Brazil for oil project development after agreeing to import between 100,000 b/d and 160,000 b/d of crude oil.  The agreements were signed last week following a meeting between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and visiting Chinese vice president Xi Jinping in the capital city of Brasilia. Brazil’s state energy company, Petrobras,...

said it will not pay out a final dividend after its net profit fell more than 95% to A$34 million last year, compared with A$646 million in 2007. (US$1=A$1.55). It blamed the sharp decline on the fall in crude oil prices, which slashed the value of its stockpile, the “unprecedented drop” in the Australian dollar...

swooped the past few weeks to buy up energy and natural resources from various producing countries struggling to deal with plunging commodity prices and the global credit shortage. Between them, President Hu Jintao and Vice President Xi Jinping raised China’s political and economic standing with the developing world with high profile tours of the Middle...

gas deals with China. State-owned Chernomornaftogaz has signed a landmark memorandum of understanding inviting China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) to help build a pipeline to tap the Odessa offshore gas deposits in the Black Sea. Chernomornaftogaz, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Naftogaz, has responsibility to develop the offshore fields in the Black Sea and Azov...

their joint investment fund to $12 billion while concluding 12 new agreements including one that promises to raise oil exports to Asia’s fastest growing economy. The deals were signed during last week’s visit to Caracas by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping as part of a five-country tour of South America that included Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia...

 profit fell 39% to S$7.5 million from S$12.3 million in FY2007. The company, which supplies proprietary process equipment and technologies, clean energy solutions and environmental technologies, added that its revenue slipped from S$84.7 million to S$87.3 million over the same period. (US$1=S$ 1.53). Advanced said its profit margin was affected by rising business costs and...

Thailand’s main energy firm, PTT, has reported its first quarterly net loss since listing in 2001. Given the weak state of the global economy, there could be further downside for Thailand’s biggest listed company which reported a net loss of 22.2 billion baht for the October-December quarter compared with a 25.8 billion baht net profit...

including Royal Dutch Shell, India’s Essar, South Korea’s SK Energy and some Middle Eastern companies to acquire a stake in its first oil refinery in Dung Quat. Inaugurated yesterday, the 140,000 b/d refinery is designed to use only Vietnam’s fast depleting light low-sulphur crude oil. Lacking funds and technical expertise, PetroVietnam needs to expand and...